


I'll Be Back Before You Know It

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Death, Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Temporary Character Death, Whump, before Legato
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 17:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16371767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: It had been Barry's idea to explore this area to see if there was anything potentially scientifically useful to them. What they didn't know was that danger lurked in the concealing vegetation and now they were paying the price.





	I'll Be Back Before You Know It

"It's... it's okay, I've got you."

Usually, it was Barry who stumbled over his words, who sounded like the words were tripping over themselves in his haste to give voice to the thoughts spinning around in his clever mind, but this time it was Lup who found her speech faltering. She knelt in the grass, her wand gripped tightly in one hand and the other on Barry's arm. She knew she should be looking out, watching for the creature that had done this. It was still out there, after all. But she just kept looking down at the ragged and stuttering rise and fall of Barry's chest, as though she could will him to keep breathing. She gripped his arm tighter when she heard a sound and looked up but no, it wasn't that creature with its too many eyes and too large teeth and claws larger than a kitchen knife. It was just a sound somewhere in the distance and she and Barry were still alone.

He grunted then, trying to push himself up, and Lup's hand moved to his shoulder, holding him down.

"You need to stay still. If you move too much, you're just gonna make it worse."

And gods, how could it be worse? White. His shirt was supposed to be white. Instead, most of it was nearly black. How much blood did a human even have? She didn't know, didn't want to know, and was far too close to finding out.

"Need... need to." He forced the words out, reaching to try and pull himself up if he had to. "Lup, we can't... we can't stay here. It's just gonna come back and then-"

"And then I blast it to fucking pieces."

Her words were low, almost a growl, and he looked surprised. But he accepted it and stopped fighting her, let her focus on trying to press the soft fabric of her jacket to the gashes across his stomach and chest. 

Forty-six years they had been together on the Starblaster now. Forty-six years and still they orbited each other like distant planets, never moving closer but never drifting farther apart. It had taken Lup less than a year to learn to speak with the animals but she so often felt like she couldn't learn to crack the code that was Barry Bluejeans. Like she couldn't find the words or the way to let him know how she felt about him. 'How she felt about him'. Gods, it sounded so stupid like that. Cliché and meaningless. She loved this man in a way she had never thought possible. It was like she was a compass, ever drawn towards his northern star. And now she was kneeling next to him while his blood soaked into the dirt and she felt hopeless. The surety that she would see him again in a few scant months was nothing compared to the dread that filled her veins with ice as she watched him grow more and more pale. What if they lost this time? What if they didn't get out? What if the Hunger didn't come? What if he was just gone?  

Calling for help had been her first thought. Message, Sending, neither of them were hard spells and she had the incantations for both memorized since she was a child. But with each repetition of the spell, with each silence that greeted her efforts, she drew closer and closer to accepting that no help was coming for them. 

"Lup?"

She looked down again, only then realizing there were tears stinging her eyes and blurring her vision. She blinked them away and gave him a sad smile. When she spoke, her voice was soft and worried.

"How you doin', Barry?"

The sound he made could almost have been a laugh if there wasn't so much pain in it. 

"Not... not the best day ever, I can definitely say that. Ten out of ten, would not uh... would not like to die this way again."

Lup's ears pinned back tight against the sides of her head and she brushed his hair back from his face.

"You're not gonna die, Bear."

The nickname she'd been using in her mind for the last decade slipped out and she didn't even try to stop it. Not now. He gave her a sad smile and put one of his hands on hers.

"Don't..." He winced, squeezing his eyes tight shut. "I've got a... a pretty realistic view of uh... Yeah... Just... just stay? You know, until..."

"I'm not going anywhere. Promise."

He smiled at that and she tried to smile back but it was like her lips refused to obey. She wished she knew where his glasses had gone in all of this. They had been knocked off and lost somewhere in the tall grass that surrounded them. He looked so wrong without them, like someone else completely. Barry turned his head slightly and she brushed his hair back again. There had to be something she could do for him. There had to be something. But there wasn't. Not here. Not this time. He gave her that shaky smile again.

"Don't worry. I'll... I'll be back before... you know it."

The sound she made was almost a laugh and almost a sob, somewhere between and both at the same time. 

"You better be." It was half a joke and half the naked truth. "Barry... I..."

She wanted to say something, wanted to say everything. But the words dried to ash on her tongue as she looked down at his pale face and distant, unfocused eyes. Saying it now, like this, would be selfish. She couldn't do that to him. She couldn't do that to herself. Instead, she hummed softly, trying to offer him something in that moment. It was an old song, one she hadn't heard since she was a child with her blanket tucked up to her chin and Taako beside her, when their aunt had sung them both to sleep. The words came to her haltingly and she sang softly, watching as some of the tension in his face eased and he smiled. And then... and then...

It was like someone had snuffed out a candle. There had been light and now... and now he was gone. Lup could hear the tall grass rustling again, knew the creature would be returning for its prey, and fury overtook grief. She reached to close Barry's eyes and then stood, wand raised.

"If you want him, you're going to have to go through me."


End file.
